“ISSF commends the United Nations General Assembly for recognizing the continued importance of World Tuna Day and the attention it brings to global conservation efforts,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “We are thankful to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) for establishing this important occasion and celebrating it for the last four years. The fact that this ratification was made without objection demonstrates that UN leadership is fully committed to issues facing tuna fisheries as they relate to the overall health of tuna stocks, our oceans and the global economy.

We look forward to continued work with the UN, PNA and other worldwide stakeholders toward the long-term conservation and sustainable use of global tuna fisheries.”

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)—the world’s leading conservation organization—promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org.

No one organization can achieve tuna fishery sustainability on its own; we must work collectively with those that share our goals and wish to work together to achieve them. ISSF collaborates with a diverse group of stakeholders — NGOs, vessel owners, retailers, tuna processors and more — to make recommendations to RFMOS.

The latest effort to result from this collaborative approach is a joint appeal to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) regarding harvest strategies. Twenty different organizations, representing both environmental organizations and the fishing industry, jointly submitted a letter to the WCPFC calling for immediate action on this issue. Signatories in addition to ISSF include WWF, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Nature Conservancy and the International Pole and Line Foundation—organizations that collectively work in over 100 countries and engage suppliers and provide advice to retailers, buyers and food service sectors regarding improvements in tuna sustainability.

“As you prepare for the upcoming 13th Session of the Commission, we urge your government to support the full and timely implementation of the Work Plan for harvest strategies, including timelines to adopt appropriate biologically-based target reference points, harvest control rules and the other elements of the harvest strategy approach, for skipjack, bigeye, yellowfin and south Pacific albacore tuna,” the group writes.

“In particular, we urge you to ensure the Commission takes the decisions necessary this year…to allow management strategy evaluation and other work to proceed as scheduled in 2017.”

After the annual meeting, we are mostly encouraged by what was decided and discussed. Yet, again this year, ICCAT did not grapple with—or make headway on—some issues critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Atlantic’s tuna resources.

Here is a recap of the yearly meeting’s clear “wins,” necessary steps toward other wins, and lost opportunities.

Positive Decisions for Tuna Stock Sustainability
As ISSF has been advocating, ICCAT agreed to maintain current Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for these tuna species as recommended by the SCRS:

We applaud ICCAT for holding firm to these TAC levels, which is essential to prevent overfishing and maintain these stocks at healthy levels.

In addition, the Commission passed measures to strengthen and streamline its compliance assessment process and to develop a scheme of responses to non-compliance. These are very important results that ISSF has been working to achieve in tuna RFMOs for some time. Robust and transparent processes to assess compliance—and also to address implementation gaps—are vital to effective RFMO governance and public confidence in such international systems.

And ICCAT’s revised tropical tuna measure now requires better data reporting from and monitoring on supply vessels, which is also something ISSF has been advocating the tuna RFMOs to do. Supply vessel activities related to drifting FADs increase the efficiency of the purse seiner by reducing the time a vessel needs to search for or maintain FADs. And right now, these supply vessel activities are not being assessed or monitored adequately.

Additional ICCAT Steps in the Right Direction
Other changes ISSF had recommended were also on the table for deliberation, and we’re pleased to say there was movement on several key issues.

First, ICCAT is making good progress on its Harvest Strategy processes, which now have a timetable. ICCAT’s Standing Working Group to Enhance Dialogue Between Fisheries Scientists and Managers (SWGSM) will meet again next year, and harvest control rules (HCR) elements for Northern Atlantic Albacore tuna will be tested via management strategy evaluations (MSEs).

The European Union, together with Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, proposed a total retention policy for tropical tunas that did not gain consensus at the annual meeting in Portugal. But the SCRS was asked to provide data for consideration and potential adoption next year, indicating that the Commission recognizes the importance of crafting and implementing such a policy, which should also address bycatch species in the context of food security and monitoring.

Many of ICCAT’s FAD Working Group recommendations are now included in either the tropical tuna measure or the terms of reference for the group’s meeting next year for implementation.

And fourth, ICCAT has taken steps to develop e-monitoring and e-reporting standards, an important move towards introducing new technologies for fisheries monitoring. Notably, the new observer measure accepts the proposed guidelines for purse seiners and tasks the SCRS with developing additional guidelines for other gears as appropriate.

Missed Policymaking Opportunities on Urgent Issues
On the other side of the equation, the Commission postponed discussion—or failed to debate it altogether—on a number of burning issues.

For starters, a requirement for 100% observer coverage on large-scale purse seine vessels, to cover the entire year, was not adopted. IATTC and WCPFC have such a requirement, and it is time ICCAT followed suit.

Increasing the minimum level of longline observer coverage to 20% was tabled, as was a proposal to strengthen the ICCAT Transshipment Recommendation.

Regarding illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) activities, ICCAT did not consider any changes to strengthen the IUU Vessel List process. Neither did the Commission adopt additional needed amendments to continue to modernize its vessel monitoring system (VMS) measure.

Roadmap for Future Discussion
While ISSF had asked and hoped for more and deeper progress on the range of important issues facing ICCAT, we are pleased with those wins and roadmaps for future discussion that were adopted.

We commit to continue working with our NGO and industry colleagues and with ICCAT Contracting and Cooperating non-Contracting Parties on these remaining critical matters in the intersessional period between now and 2017 Commission meeting.

The WCPFC, which oversees tuna stocks in the WCPO, is one of five tuna Regional Fishing Management Organizations (RFMOs). “As stewards of the world’s largest tuna fishing grounds, WCPFC members carry a significant proportion of responsibility for the sustainable management of global tuna,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “The region has shown an active willingness to improve the way its fisheries are managed and protected. However, there is still progress to be made, including for the region’s bigeye stock.”

Although bigeye catches in 2015 were 16% lower than in 2014, short-term projections reviewed by the 12th Regular Session of the WCPFC Scientific Committee (SC12) show that bigeye remains overfished. To end overfishing, fishing mortality needs to be reduced by about 36%. Skipjack tuna also is at risk of overfishing unless the Target Reference Point (TRP) is maintained and effective capacity management curbs potential increases in fishing effort.

In all ocean regions, ISSF has recommended adoption and execution of harvest control strategies, which guide fisheries management decisions. For WCPFC, ISSF is advocating adhering to the 2015 harvest strategy work plan, which requires the RFMO to determine a rebuilding time frame for bigeye, management objectives for albacore tuna, and acceptable levels of risk so that Management Strategy Evaluations (MSE) and other work can move forward in 2017.

The ISSF WCPFC position statement and companion blog post outline many other issues for WCPFC members to discuss and act on at next week’s meeting – including requiring the use of non-entangling FAD designs; collecting data on support vessels; adopting e-monitoring standards; raising the observer coverage requirement for longline fleets; improving transparency in the WCPFC compliance monitoring process; and more.

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)—the world’s leading conservation organization—promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org.

With purview over an ocean region that provides more than half of the world’s tuna catch, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meets annually under the watchful eye of many stakeholders—in an official capacity or otherwise. It’s a high-stakes meeting: Progress on the sustainable management of the region’s tuna resources is a must.

For some important tuna species like bigeye tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna, for example, catches remain too high. Existing WCPFC conservation measures are inadequate to address overfishing and to rebuild the stocks to healthy levels.

ISSF and WWF have a robust list of items we want WCPFC member nations to tackle this year. In a new blog, ISSF’s Claire van der Geest and WWF’s Bubba Cook highlight those priority items that have special urgency for December’s annual meeting, including:

]]>What a Difference a Year Could Make: A Wish List for WCPFC 2016http://iss-foundation.org/what-a-difference-a-year-could-make-a-wish-list-for-wcpfc-2016/
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 17:09:25 +0000http://iss-foundation.org/?p=1404329 November 2016

One year ago, as the 12th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) approached, we published a blog post sharing ISSF’s view of priorities and potential solutions for tuna fisheries in the WCPO region.

Unfortunately, what we have found is that many of the issues in need of attention remain the same — including addressing the overfished state of bigeye and overcapacity in fishing fleets; requiring the use of non-entangling FADs; reforming the WCPFC compliance-monitoring process; strengthening longline observer-coverage compliance; and transshipment regulation.

In Nadi next week, WCPFC members once again have the chance to ensure the sustainability of all of the region’s tuna resources and marine ecosystems — by adopting science-based conservation and management measures that address the following 12 key priorities.

12 Priorities for Action at WCPFC Meeting

Bigeye tuna: WCPFC has made progress adopting limit reference points for bigeye. But the Commission can further prevent overfishing by eliminating conservation measure exemptions and adopting management measures that are easier to enforce.

Skipjack tuna: WCPFC has put target reference points for skipjack in place, but to maintain them, limiting fishing days in purse seine fisheries may be necessary. It’s also important to fully fund the SC12 request for a skipjack tagging program.

Harvest strategies: Stick to the 2015 harvest strategy work plan. Decide now on a rebuilding time frame for bigeye, management objectives for albacore, and acceptable levels of risk so that Management Strategy Evaluations (MSE) and other work can move forward in 2017.

Compliance process: Reform the Compliance Monitoring Scheme (CMS) process to allow accredited observers at working group meetings and also to publicize information on activities to address non-compliance.

Fishing capacity: Use closed vessel registries, and develop a common currency to measure capacity. Task the Scientific Committee with recommending longline capacities consistent with sustaining target tuna stocks, and support the Kobe III call to transfer capacity to developing nations.

We encourage you to also read our WCPFC position statement, which covers these recommendations for the Commission — and the background information below — in more detail.

Background and Links on WCPFC IssuesClick the links to read ISSF reports and Web resources on these topics.

Bigeye and Skipjack TunaAlthough bigeye catches in 2015 were 16% lower than in 2014, short-term projections reviewed by SC12 show that bigeye remains overfished. To end overfishing, fishing mortality needs to be reduced by about 36%. Skipjack is around the interim Target Reference Point (TRP) adopted by WCPFC, but fishing could increase unless there is effective capacity management.

Harvest Control Rules (HCRs), Reference Points, and Harvest StrategiesHCRs are well-defined management actions that respond to changes in stock status related to target and limit reference points. ISSF endorses applying the Precautionary Approach, using clear target and limit reference points and HCRs, as called for by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and by some RFMO Conventions.

Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) ManagementAlthough FADs are a leading fishing method for tropical tunas, t-RFMOs have information gaps about how many FADs are being used and in what kinds of fishing operations. ISSF welcomed the creation of a Working Group on FAD management options in 2014, and was pleased to participate in the 2015 and 2016 meetings.

Shark Protections
SC12 recommended that WCPFC reconsider conservation measure 2010-07, which allows members to exclude one mitigation technique (either wire trace or shark-lines). Shark lines catch mostly silky and oceanic whitetip sharks, whose retention is prohibited. Landing sharks with fins naturally attached is the best way to monitor compliance with finning bans and to collect data on shark catches, which is vital to shark conservation and management.

Longline Fisheries: Observer coverage, transshipment, and operational-level dataData gaps in longline fisheries in WCPO create several conservation challenges, including for assessing stocks and catches, and for bycatch mitigation and handling. Observer coverage also is quite low, and some members fail to produce required transshipment reports or advance notifications, which electronic monitoring and reporting could help to address.

The November 2016 Update is based on audits conducted June 2016–October 2016 on measures where some companies had “minor” or “major” nonconformance. Improvements noted since the June 2016 ISSF Conservation Measures & Commitment Compliance Report was published include:

14 companies were found to be fully compliant with all 20 measures

19 companies were fully compliant in 17 or more conservation measures.

“Minor” non-conformance with measures dropped from 11.6% to 4.4%.

All 6 “major” non-conformances have been corrected, resulting in the first 0% “major” non-conformance rate since the report has been published.

“That many of the tuna industry’s key players are conforming to science-based conservation measures, opening their books to independent auditors, and reporting their findings publicly, would be accomplishment enough,” said ISSF Board Member Dr. Bill Fox, Vice President, Fisheries, WWF-US. “But efforts to improve participating company conformance within the audit year—increasing the conformance rate by seven points in just five months—raises the bar for the industry and the market as a whole. And it represents continuous improvement in action.”

Claire van der Geest is Strategic Policy Advisor for ISSF and is based in Australia. Bubba Cook is the Western and Central Pacific Ocean Tuna Programme Manager at World Wide Fund for Nature and is based in New Zealand.

With purview over an ocean region that provides an estimated 60% of the world’s tuna catch, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meets annually under the watchful eye of many stakeholders—in an official capacity or otherwise. It’s a high-stakes meeting: Progress on the sustainable management of the region’s tuna resources is a must.

For some important tuna species like bigeye tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna, for example, catches remain too high. Existing WCPFC conservation measures are inadequate to address overfishing and to rebuild the stocks to healthy levels.

ISSF and WWF have a robust list of items we want WCPFC member nations to tackle this year; here, we highlight those priority items that have special urgency for December’s annual meeting.

Harvest Strategies for Adequate Tuna Species Protection

This year’s Commission meeting must make concerted progress consistent with their 2015 Harvest Strategy work plan.

Harvest strategies (also known as ‘Management Procedures’), which include harvest control rules (HCRs) and reference points, are an essential tool for modern and precautionary fisheries management. The evidence of success from fisheries where harvest strategies have been implemented is clear—not only do harvest strategies provide a strong platform to rebuild stocks that have been subject to overfishing, they also allow greater understanding of cumulative effects of management decisions and the impact of uncertainty. And governments and industry can plan for the long-term.

Progress against WCPFC’s Harvest Strategy work plan means agreeing to a rebuilding timeframe for the bigeye tuna stock, as well recording management objectives and the acceptable level of risk of breaching the limit reference point. The Commission must also adopt a target reference point for south Pacific albacore tuna, a decision that was deferred at the 2015 meeting.

ISSF and WWF also urge WCPFC to devote greater attention to other highly migratory species – by agreeing to rebuilding timeframes for Pacific Bluefin tuna, as well as a target reference point for south Pacific Albacore tuna. And we call on the Commission to increase the level of monitoring coverage of all fishing activities and associated on-water practices to ensure that management measures are implemented rigorously and to allow for effective assessment of compliance with these measures.

Reforms Needed for Observers

Low levels of observer coverage on the more than 3,000 WCPFC-registered longline tuna vessels, for which the current requirement is 5%—coupled with failures by some nations to comply with historical catch-and-effort reporting requirements—is undermining scientific assessment of longline fishing mortality.

It is very difficult to sustainably and properly manage a fishery with incomplete or inaccurate data. Because on-board observers are essential to collecting such data, as well as to monitoring the implementation of conservation and management measures, addressing unsatisfactory compliance with the existing five-percent observer coverage requirement in the longline fishery is a matter of urgency.

Increasing the required level of longline observer coverage is an issue that also needs the Commission’s attention. Interactions with sensitive species other than tuna, such as sharks, sea turtles and sea birds, can be sporadic and infrequent in tuna fishing, yet still be significant—and therefore critical to track—across a fishery. Scientists have advised that the level of observer coverage needed to properly assess impacts on these non-target species should be much higher than 5%—closer to 20%, for example. Other tuna RFMOs have already begun to consider such an increase. ISSF and WWF request that WCPFC task its Scientific Committee with providing advice on the appropriate level of observer coverage required for scientific purposes.

Finally, to ensure that the Commission receives quality data through the regional observer program, it is essential that these observers are able to do their jobs in a safe and professional environment. Last year alone, observers reported more than 100 instances of harassment or intimidation. WCPFC must take these reports seriously and give due consideration to measures that will further ensure the safety of observers.

Transparency in Compliance Monitoring

ISSF and WWF continue to be concerned with the lack of transparency in the WCPFC Compliance Monitoring Scheme (CMS). This situation is not only wholly inconsistent with modern best practice in RFMO governance, it also allows bad actors to remain hidden and creates an uneven playing field for those parties that do follow the rules.

We urge the Commission to bring its practices in line with the other four tuna RFMOs and reform its CMS process so that: 1) Accredited meeting observers may attend the working group meetings and 2) Member nations’ plans to address the areas of non-compliance are made public.

Non-Entangling FADs

WCPFC continues to lag behind the other tuna RFMOs on FAD management, including on the adoption of simple precautionary measures like the use of non-entangling FADs. It is disappointing that the second WCPFC FAD Management Working Group did not make clear recommendations to the Commission on the implementation of non-entangling FADs.

Since 2005, scientists and fishers have been collaborating to design drifting FAD designs that minimize the likelihood of entanglement of sharks and other non-target species. The resulting FAD designs —like those developed by scientists working with ISSF—are less likely to entangle non-target species. A recent study shows that the industry acceptance level of such designs by fishers and ship-owners has progressed rapidly since 2010. Fleets have replaced traditional FADs with lower entanglement risk and non-entangling FADs, while experiencing no decrease in tuna catches.

Measures and actions such as this one by ISSF and its participating companies are designed to demonstrate the seriousness with which the market, NGOs, and vessel community consider making progress on global tuna sustainability. It is hoped that this will provide momentum for WCPFC to require the use of non-entangling FADs as a precautionary measure to reduce the entanglement of sharks and other non-target species in the WCPO purse seine fishery.

With responsibility for the world’s largest tuna fishery, there is a lot at stake for the upcoming WCPFC meeting. NGOs like ISSF and WWF have worked collaboratively throughout the year with industry, fleets, scientists, governments, sub-regional organizations and the WCPFC Secretariat to support progress on key issues like harvest strategies, electronic reporting standards, electronic monitoring, bycatch mitigation and FAD management. But now it is time for the WCPFC members to act and take the decisions necessary to secure the valuable tuna resources of the WCPO for the future and all those who depend on them.

In addition to these summary reports, third-party independent auditor MRAG Americas issues individual company reports that document in detail each company’s compliance with conservation measures. This year, for the first time since ISSF started tracking and reporting company compliance in 2013—and in response to requests for deeper information—ISSF now publishes the individual company compliance reports on its website.

“That many of the tuna industry’s key players are conforming to science-based conservation measures, opening their books to independent auditors, and reporting their findings publicly, would be accomplishment enough,” said ISSF Board Member Dr. Bill Fox, Vice President, Fisheries, WWF-US. “But efforts to improve participating company conformance within the audit year—increasing the conformance rate by seven points in just five months—raises the bar for the industry and the market as a whole. And it represents continuous improvement in action.”

For long-term tuna sustainability, a growing number of tuna companies worldwide are choosing to participate with ISSF, follow responsible fishing practices, and implement science-based conservation measures. From bycatch mitigation to product traceability, ISSF participating companies have committed to conforming to a set of conservation measures and other commitments designed to drive positive change—and to do so transparently through third-party audits.

“We recognize that transparency underpins all of the initiatives we tackle, and all of the collaborative efforts we undertake,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “Transparency reinforces the understanding that we are not only committed to making a difference, but to clearly demonstrate ongoing improvement in meeting that commitment.”

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) — the world’s leading conservation organization — promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org.

In recent years in the fisheries and sustainability communities, we’ve been working on the need to adopt harvest strategies or harvest control rules (HCRs) through the implementation of Management Strategy Evaluations (MSE) at tuna RFMOs. Most RFMOs have started to promote dialogue between scientists and managers in order to increase understanding of and comfort with these concepts.

Progress is still fairly slow. But there are understandable reasons for a cautious pace at RFMOs: These are a set of complicated concepts that are still new to many in the tuna realm. In a new blog—and on the occasion of this week’s ICCAT annual meeting—Holly Koehler and Victor Restrepo dissect these concepts while advocating for their continued advancement, adoption and implementation across all tuna fisheries.

The evidence of success from fisheries where harvest strategies have been implemented is clear. Not only do harvest strategies provide a strong platform to rebuild stocks that have been subject to overfishing, they also allow greater understanding of cumulative effects of management decisions and the impact of uncertainty.

Earlier this year, the adoption of a harvest control rule for skipjack tuna by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) made headlines. ISSF joined our fellow stakeholders in applauding this action.

The adoption of this initial skipjack HCR was the culmination of significant work, investment and advocacy by many parties—nations, industry, NGOs, scientists and retailers—and it paves the way for refinement as the management strategy evaluation work continues.

A new infographic depicts the many steps and milestones that marked the journey to adoption of this HCR. And it serves as a reminder to all parties invested in sustainable tuna and the world’s tuna fisheries: There are many ways to develop harvest strategies, but they all need dialogue, work, and patience to succeed. Further—for sustainable tuna in the Indian Ocean and beyond—implementation, monitoring, compliance are all next steps that cannot be overlooked.